


Bardolf Otto von Blutstadt

by RV_Qkpndj



Category: Original Work
Genre: Eldritch, Gen, Horror, Lovecraftian, Pseudo-History
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:22:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23184721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RV_Qkpndj/pseuds/RV_Qkpndj
Summary: A History of A Town, A Man, and Strange Events.
Collections: A Collection Of Short Stories





	Bardolf Otto von Blutstadt

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. 

M.J.’s eyes flicked up to the analog clock clicking and ticking away. She was on her lunch break, listening to her co-worker, Johanna, going on and on about make-up. She was only half-listening as she was reading the local news on her phone. 

“This foundation would go good with your dark complexion…” she was abruptly interrupted by Victor “Vicky” Ruiz entering the break room in a huff.

“Ugh, these customers are horrible today!” Vicky was pacing around and ranting about rude customers and stupid managers. 

“God, Vicky please shut up! I was talking,” Johanna barked.

Vicky rolled his eyes and noticed M.J. not paying attention to anything going on around her. Continuing to ignore Johanna’s verbal assault he slinked over to her and spied over her shoulder. M.J. was reading about weird occurrences in and around town. A sparkle gleamed in his eye as a wide smile spread over his face. 

“I love these weird stories! You should join my online group of mystery hunters,” Vicky’s head bobbed up and down in excitement. M.J. jumped from his sudden outburst in her ear. 

“Damn it. Don’t do that Vicky!” M.J. rubbed her head as a mild headache began to form. 

“Sorry, friend. I just love learning about our town. This town's history is full of weird shit.”

M.J. was now listening intently. 

“Like what exactly?”

“Well…” Vicky was about to start. 

“Oh god! Not this again Vicky! I have heard this story. You won’t shut up about it!” Johanna forcefully pushed her chair back and stormed out of the break room. M.J. gave him a knowing look. 

Vicky just shrugged and gave a coy smile. He began again and started the story in earnest. 

The History of The New Orange Township

The town was founded after the Revolutionary War in 1793 by a German aristocrat: Bardolf Otto von Blutstadt. Von Blutstadt was born to the Prince (Pandolf Otto) of the Kingdom of Apfelsine (Absorbed by The Duchy of Brunswick in 1836) on July 9th, 1763. Von Blutstadt was a wild and unruly teenager. He was rebellious and very eccentric. He would dress up as a commoner and crash fellow aristocrats’ parties with groups of poor people. He would dance in the square of his hometown of Blutstadt (Blutstadt was completely destroyed by allied bombs during the second world war) completely naked (and sometimes drunk). When the American Revolution began Von Blutstadt defied his Grand-Father (King of Apfelsine, Odolf Otto II) and took a whole company of soldiers to fight the British in America. He was seventeen when he was attached to General Green’s Army and fought in the Carolinas. At the lesser-known Battle of the By Roads, he engaged the enemy and routed their army. That is where he came to love the land of the North Carolinas. 

Von Blutstadt came back to the site of his finest battle. There he founded Neue Apfelsineplatz (Changed to New Orange Township in 1847) and also the State University; The Blutstadt Academy. Von Blutstadt was intrigued by the local legends, one that spoke of a creature that can swim in the land, he would take long “expeditions” into the woods to look for this creature. Stories about him only grew in absurdity as the century ended. He tied roots and potatoes around his neck, he would stay out late in the woods (Diaries tell of strange reddish lights blinking deep in the forest at night.), and he would say a strange phrase; “Hier liegt er und ich liege für immer zusammen.” It can be translated to: Here he lays, and I lay together forever. 

Looking at his old diaries, that became more unhinged as the decades pass on. Comparing the diaries from 1794, show a clear and stable mind. However, in contrast, an unfinished diary from 1853 (He was approaching 90 at the time.) is unreadable. Strange symbols and an unknown language (suspected to be a creation of Von Blutstadt) half-fills the book. By this time, he was a recluse and rarely journeyed out of his house. People swear they saw him leave his house only during the night. Often (they say) he heads to the woods and doesn’t come back until daybreak.   
He died on July 8th, 1859 a day before his 96th birthday. In his will, he requested to be buried in the heart of the town, his wish was granted. In his honor not only had they followed his will; they made his headstone a beautiful statue of the town’s founder. Made from Granite, bought from a Maine quarry company, it was erected above his gravesite in the Central Square (completed in 1860). The statue was damaged during the American Civil War. A stray cannonball fired from an artillery barrage that was missed calculated took off the statue’s head. Colonel J.D. Higgins of the 24th North Carolina Rifles was battling Union forces near the town in the closing days of the war. It was his order to shell the Union lines that resulted in the damage to the town. Later, J.D. Higgins would be elected mayor in 1869 (and he would be mayor until his mysterious death in 1891). 

The town is no stranger to weird events. In the early days of the town (when most of the residents were former Apfelsine soldiers and their wives) there was a string of murders. Young children would disappear and be found in the woods. Their bodies mutilated and hanging from trees by their entrails. This event almost destroyed the fledgling town. The crimes were pinned on a mentally ill man, named Matthew Holly, there isn’t any evidence that he was responsible for the crimes. Holly was lynched, in a very similar manner to how the children died. The murders stopped after Holly died. Supporting the false notion that he was accountable for the killings. However, Matthew Holly was autistic, and he had terrible anxiety. Often, he could be found playing with children as a caretaker (only making him more suspect). He was physically weak and simple-minded. Not much of a murderer. In 1999 the New Orange Township Council officially apologized to Matthew Holly’s family. 

In 1919 the Spanish Flu swept through the Township. Hundreds got sick and died. But a new symptom popped up in the Township, Adults infected with the Flu would get out of their beds (be it hospital or home) and lumber around the streets. They would make gargling noises and scratch at uninfected people. Children with the Flu would talk to people that were not there. They would claim (in tired voices) that dead relatives would come to visit them. This could be chalked up to delirium caused by the fever. Children would say that their relatives wish for them to “come to the other side,” others encouraged them to cause chaos in the household. All the sick children seemed to have the same delusion. In the Township because of these strange symptoms, the boys at the Blutstadt Academy started to call it the Orange Flu. The last case of the “Orange” Flu was a woman named Georgina Rodskin-Tillahook. She killed five men and three women in a feverous rage. The Coroner’s report states the one man (Patrol Man Jesse K. Bragg) had his whole head removed from his shoulders. The last sighting of Mrs. Rodskin-Tillahook was in 1937. She was spotted walking along the road to nearby Apple Harvest, Virginia. When she saw the shine of a flashlight she charged into the woods, never to be seen again. In 1958 she was officially declared dead.

During the middle years of Prohibition, a gang called “The Queen’s Guard” rose to power. Their boss was a northern man named Jason “Mad Man” Pillars. He traveled all the way from Salem, Massachusetts fleeing a murder charge. He came to town under the alias Dug Judy and saw a job opportunity. Him and his goons would steal (or as some suspect; buy) apples from nearby Apple Harvest. In the woods between the two towns, him and his gang would make Moon Shine with their spoils. Over the Prohibition years, Pillars’ gang gained strength and political power. Rumors of the group plagued both towns. Gossip of “cult”-like activities that the gang engages in and ritual sacrifice. Maybe because of these stories their moonshine got the nickname “Bloodshine.” Pillars was never prosecuted, and his gang was also never charged with any crime. Why? Pillars and his “Queen’s Guard” were found in their hidden distillery in an apparent shootout between themselves. Police were alerted to the scene after concerned citizens reported gunshots coming from deep in the woods. Apple Harvest Police Department (AHPD) and the New Orange Township Police Department (NOTPD) dispatched all units to sweep the forest area. In all fifteen people were dead Pillars, his wife Carol, and all thirteen of his henchmen. 

After the Callgary Forest Massacre not much strange happened for years. Rumors of outlandish lights in the woods (1939), ghost sightings (1943), a werewolf that turned out to just be a wild dog (1955), Von Blutstadt’s statue leaving its pedestal and walking around (1986), and a missing boy that nobody knows (1996). An odd occurrence happened in 2009, after the Housing Crisis, a large influx of desuetude men and women entered the town. In April of that year, a cult started to recruit some of the homeless population. A charismatic preacher named Ames Holcome was the leader of Joyful Beams Church of Christ. He welcomed the unfortunate people, as they stacked the pews and wanted to hear his message. Holcome fed them, bathed them, and gave them shelter. He also gave them a dollop of ideology. He made them commit political murders of city officials, police officers, and concerned citizens that got too close to his real activities. As it turns out Mr. Holcome was the leader of the Brighter-Day Cult. There he convinced younger women and men to have sex with him, in their words, “He was a God, Yusoun’eGiaystxal!” Whatever he called himself, he committed or had his followers commit, multiple crimes, including; murder, extortion, armed robbery, breaking and entering, statutory rape, rape, and witness tampering. Nothing like this has been seen since the Manson Family murders in 1969. The police raided his compound under the church. What they found haunts the town to this day. Strange artifacts, insane writings, and hundreds of bones! Twenty-five people were arrested, six committed suicide, and Ames Holcome got away. Ames must have been tipped off to the raid, as all of his personal items were missing, and his car was not found either. An investigation into Mr. Holcome only turned up dead ends and is thought to be his alias. All of the money he stole went with him.   
\--------------------------------------- 48 ---------------------------------------- 

“-and that is all I know about this town.” Vicky let out a breath.

“Did yah remember all of that?” M.J. was astonished. 

“Of course, I did. I soak this stuff up, my man. I know this isn’t the full story tho,” Vicky looked up at the clock. It read 7:38 and kept tick-tocking. 

“Oh shit! When did you go to break?” 

“Oh fuck!” M.J. rushed out of the breakroom.

Vicky was all by himself. Listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall. He smiled to himself. 

People’s Newspaper Excerpt 05/01/2010:

Baxter County,   
A car fitting the description of Ames Holcome was found abandon in a farmyard about 10 miles from New Orange Township. Holcome is wanted for involvement in a string of crimes consisting of murder and rape. Any information that you may have, that might lead to an arrest, will be rewarded with $10,000. Call the NOTPD at 743-999-5555.


End file.
